PBE Games on DriveThruRPG

Monday, April 26, 2010

This terrible artifact was constructed by the Dwarfs in ages past as a weapon of last resort. There has only been one recorded instance of Townkiller being used in battle, a situation that quickly revealed the device's terrible potency.

Townkiller is a forty-foot long juggernaut of metal and stone. Its worm-like body is made up of a dozen segments of magically hardened obsidian laced together with a steel matrix. Dozens of multi-jointed, adamantite limbs sprout from these segments, each five or six feet long. At the forward end a ring of gleaming diamonds surround a circular maw lined with dozens of smaller limbs and dagger-like adamantite fangs, the whole forming a funnel-like opening. The bottom of this funnel glows with white-hot energy. At the rearward end Townkiller tapers to a small, spout-like final segment.

The artifact radiates Legendary protection, animation and evocation magic along with Epic divination magic. Discovering the mechanisms and magics that drive the device is a Legendary test of artifice, and requires access to a Superb quality library of Dwarf-lore.

When activated, Townkiller's operator can command the device to attack a single specific location within 100 miles. Townkiller will immediately come to life, burrowing through earth and stone at Great speed; it's many limbs dig through stone as if it were soft soil, while the heat of its central maw, powered by the trapped might of no fewer than four magma elementals, melts any obstacle to molten lava, which is ejected from the device's rear. When it reaches its target, the device will immediately seek out the nearest man-made structure and begin consuming it with adamantite limbs and fiery maw. Townkiller can destroy a normal house-sized structure in a few rounds, while larger structures, stone fortifications and the like, are consumed at a rate of 1000 cubic feet per ten rounds. Townkiller will not cease operations until all structures within a one mile radius have been turned to molten stone and burning ash. Once active the device cannot be stopped by any known force until it has completed its task. There is no off switch.

Townkiller can also be commanded to simply move. It travels to its destination at Great speed, leaving a tunnel lined with melted stone in its wake. The device can easily travel 50 miles per day.

The artifact is effectively indestructible. It's adamantite and magic enhanced body shrugs off physical and magical damage with ease. Should someone accomplish the Legendary task of causing physical damage, the magical matrix encasing the device can heal any damage suffered at the rate of one rank per week. The GM should determine a unique method of destruction as suits their campaign setting. A good place to start might be extreme cold, such as the breath of a white dragon or a trip to a frozen elemental plane.